Au Revoir, Figgy?

Angels third baseman, switch-hitting lead-off hitter and spark plug Chone Figgins is apparently bound for American League Western Division rival Seattle.

The Orange County Register, citing multiple sources, says the Mariners are on the verge of signing the free-agent to a four-year contract for approximately $36 million.

That was apparently news to Angels GM Tony Reagins, who told the Reggie's Bill Plunkett the Halos have been in negotiations this week to re-sign Figgins.

The offer on the table is apparently for no more than three years, a contract length the Angels are apparently not willing to extend.

So, prepare for a crappy weekend, Angels fans. And if losing Figgy's salary is still not enough to keep free-agent pitcher John Lackey from bolting, a crappy winter as well.

Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before "graduating" to OC Weekly in 1995 as the paper's first calendar editor. He has contributed as a freelance editor and writer to several publications and been the subject of or featured in several reports online, in print and on the radio and television. One of countless times he returned to his Costa Mesa, CA, home with a bounty of awards from a journalism competition, his wife told him to take out the trash.